Survey: U.S. consumers dislike Internet sales tax

Washington, D.C. - The American people overwhelmingly oppose new legislation that lets states force tax collection obligations on Internet purchases made from businesses outside their borders.



A new Mercury Poll of 1,000 likely U.S, voters commissioned by National Taxpayers Union (NTU) reported that by a 57%-35% margin, Americans opposed changes to Internet sales tax policies. When respondents were informed "the proposed legislation would allow tax enforcement agents from one state to collect taxes from online retailers based in a different state," and that it would entail new tax collection obligations for businesses, the margins against it swung to 70% and 69%, respectively.



"The overwhelming results of our survey send an unmistakable message: nobody likes this federal Internet sales tax scheme," said NTU executive VP Pete Sepp. "Not to be lost in these intriguing results is the opportunity for fiscal conservatives to reach out to swing groups like young voters, women, and independents."